Waste materials co-processing in cement industry: Ecological efficiency of waste reuse

• Published in: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews 2013-03, Vol.19, p.200-207
• Main Authors: Lamas, Wendell de Queiroz, Palau, Jose Carlos Fortes, Camargo, Jose Rubens de
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alternative fuels; Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; carbon dioxide; cement; Cement concrete constituents; Cements; concrete; Costs; Ecological monitoring; electricity; energy; Energy consumption; energy use and consumption; Energy-intensive industry; Exact sciences and technology; fossil fuels; Fuels; Industrial waste recycling; Manufacture; manufacturing; Materials; motivation; oils; planning; Pollution; Portland cement; production costs; Raw materials, constituents, cement additives, fuels; Reduction; Reuse; Safety, energy, plant environment; Urban and domestic wastes; Wastes
• ISSN: 1364-0321; 1879-0690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.11.015

Cement is the main component of concrete, which is, in turn, the second most consumed material on earth, in addition, the cement industry is one of the most intensive energy consumptions. The modern plants often have nominal production capacity exceeding one million tons per year. To produce one ton of cement, you need the equivalent of 60–130kg of fuel and 110kWh of electricity. Due to the large consumption of energy, which represents over 30% of the total production cost for the cement industry, the reduction in spending on energy inputs is a major motivation for technological advances in the production process of cement. To reduce the costs of fossil fuel consumption (non-renewable source), the technique of co-processing has been employed for introducing alternative fuels as part of the manufacturing process. This technique provides a lower cost of production, introducing fuel waste from different industrial activities, besides contributing to the reduction of environmental liabilities; they generate waste when discarded in inappropriate places. It is evident that the cement industry sector is highly intensive in energy consumption, and should be considered in studies on energy planning, especially with the changes in its energy matrix, which has occurred continuously since the oil crisis in 70 years, still that this change is very heterogeneous when one considers each manufactures cement. The ecological analysis is done through comparison between ecological efficiency, pollution indicator and values for CO2 equivalent from cement industry rate, before and after adoption of waste reuse.